You have no idea what an assault rifle is. It is a semi-automatic rifle with a pistol grip. Yes, so much more lethal than any other semi-automatic hunting rifle. Don't talk out of your ass. Assault Rifle =/= Fully automatic. The civilian models are still 1 round per trigger pull. Educate yourself.

This -

And this -

Both fire the same round at the same speed. Explain to me why one is "sporting" to hunt with and the other itsn't?

Your chance of being a victim of gun violence in the United States is extremely remote (.003 percent), much less if you factor in criminals killing each other which extremely skews that figure.

Hooray for statistics! But wait... 0.003 percent? Really? You may want to crunch the numbers again there genius because you're off, by quite a bit.... The best statistics I could find put the odds at 1 out of 325, and that isn't 0.0003 percent; that's approximately 0.3% which is a long way off from 0.0003%.

You have no idea what an assault rifle is. It is a semi-automatic rifle with a pistol grip. Yes, so much more lethal than any other semi-automatic hunting rifle. Don't talk out of your ass. Assault Rifle =/= Fully automatic. The civilian models are still 1 round per trigger pull. Educate yourself.

This -

And this -

Both fire the same round at the same speed. Explain to me why one is "sporting" to hunt with and the other itsn't?

When I hear assault rifle I think one that can fire multlple rounds real fast, hence the name "assault". You know what I was implying.

When I hear assault rifle I think one that can fire multlple rounds real fast, hence the name "assault". You know what I was implying.

No, I did not, as Assault Rifle =/= fully automatic. That generally is referred to as a machine gun, which is not easy to aquire in the US. You can't buy a fully automatic weapon at your local wal mart. That seems to be a common misconception that the world has about us, any time they hear assault rifle they think that some dude is spraying rooms with automatic fire. It gets fucking old.

You have no idea what an assault rifle is. It is a semi-automatic rifle with a pistol grip. Yes, so much more lethal than any other semi-automatic hunting rifle. Don't talk out of your ass. Assault Rifle =/= Fully automatic. The civilian models are still 1 round per trigger pull. Educate yourself.

This -

And this -

Both fire the same round at the same speed. Explain to me why one is "sporting" to hunt with and the other itsn't?

To be fair, I don't think either of those are particularly good for home-defense in the traditional "home-invasion" scenario. Shotgun and pistols are much better.

I won't wade into the "assault rifle" debacle. I think the term is kind of silly and, at best, murky. But I will add that while I support the Second Amendment and don't like the current legal mess that we have I am not necessarily opposed to common-sense gun regulations (such as continuing to limit who can own fully automatic weapons, and preventing convincted felons and those adjudicated as mentally ill from owning any kind of gun). I am not super-familiar with existing laws and regulations, so perhaps such limits are already in place, but if there aren't, I don't think it would be a bad idea to impose restrictions the acquisition of certain types of weapons by civilians outright.

For example, I don't think a GAU-17 or a GAU-8 should be readily available for purchase at your local gunstore, complete with SUV mounting kit. I'm sure that some may find this restrictive and argue that it violates the Second Amendment; we can have that debate, and I'm certainly open to being convinced otherwise. Someone may draw the line elsewhere, but I don't think that anyone will really disagree that there are at least some line: that certain kinds of weapons should not be widely available to civilians, and some that shouldn't be available at all.

I guess there is one line that everyone (at least I hope everyone) would agree shouldn't be crossed: civilians should not be allowed to own biological, chemical and/or nuclear weapons.

To be fair, I don't think either of those are particularly good for home-defense in the traditional "home-invasion" scenario. Shotgun and pistols are much better.

I won't wade into the "assault rifle" debacle. I think the term is kind of silly and, at best, murky. But I will add that while I support the Second Amendment and don't like the current legal mess that we have I am not necessarily opposed to common-sense gun regulations (such as continuing to limit who can own automatic weapons, and preventing convincted felons and those adjudicated as mentally ill from owning any kind of gun). I am not super-familiar with existing laws and regulations, so perhaps such limits are already in place, but if there aren't, I don't think it would be a bad idea to impose restrictions the acquisition of certain weapons by civilians outright.

For example, I don't think a GAU-17 or a GAU-8 should be readily available for purchase at your local gunstore, complete with SUV mounting kit. I'm sure that some may find this restrictive and argue that it violates the Second Amendment; we can have that debate, and I'm certainly open to being convinced otherwise. Someone may draw the line elsewhere, but I don't think that anyone will really disagree that there are at least some kinds of weapons should not be widely available, and some that shouldn't be available at all. I guess there is one line that everyone (at least I hope everyone) would agree shouldn't be crossed: civilians should not be allowed to own biological, chemical and/or nuclear weapons.

Completely agree with you on all points except for the home invasion one. When the most elite military spec ops teams practice CQB (close quarters combat), they use short barreled M4 carbines set to semi-automatic. Good enough for them, good enough for me.

However, for your average person, a shotgun is probably preferable due to not having to be nearly as accurate.

Completely agree with you on all points except for the home invasion one. When the most elite military spec ops teams practice CQB (close quarters combat), they use short barreled M4 carbines set to semi-automatic. Good enough for them, good enough for me.

However, for your average person, a shotgun is probably preferable due to not having to be nearly as accurate.

Right... the average person isn't a highly-skilled elite special-ops member, who trains dozens of scenarios on a regular basis. I can tell you that I wouldn't feel comfortable with that beast of a weapon inside the close confines of a corridor or the staircase of my house but would feel much more comfortable with a shotgun. Ultimately, I just that think the shotgun is a lot more practical for the average joe and a lot cheaper to boot.

No, I did not, as Assault Rifle =/= fully automatic. That generally is referred to as a machine gun, which is not easy to aquire in the US. You can't buy a fully automatic weapon at your local wal mart. That seems to be a common misconception that the world has about us, any time they hear assault rifle they think that some dude is spraying rooms with automatic fire. It gets fucking old.

Point taken. On a side note, about twenty years ago I accompanied an old girl friends father across the border to a gun show. He collected old ammunition (strange man). They did have fully automatic rifles and machine pistols for sale, no word of a lie. You're right, I am not a gun guy. that was my only exposure to guns.

Point taken. On a side note, about twenty years ago I accompanied an old girl friends father across the border to a gun show. He collected old ammunition (strange man). They did have fully automatic rifles and machine pistols for sale, no word of a lie. You're right, I am not a gun guy. that was my only exposure to guns.

Oh, you can get them, you're absolutely right about that. However, to legally own them you have to have a special permit and license, and they're generally super expensive. Not something you can legally own super easily.

Right... the average person isn't a highly-skilled elite special-ops member, who trains dozens of scenarios on a regular basis. I can tell you that I wouldn't feel comfortable with that beast of a weapon inside the close confines of a corridor or the staircase of my house but would feel much more comfortable with a shotgun. Ultimately, I just that think the shotgun is a lot more practical for the average joe and a lot cheaper to boot.

Fair enough, lol. You are correct, a short barreled shotgun is probably a lot more practical for your average homeowner. As I said earlier, much easier to hit your target for most people.

arent shotguns more appropriate for some military operations than ASSAULT rifles?

I'm not 100% sure, but most of the operators I knew said that they tended to use their M4's for almost everything (with various barrel lengths and different optics for different situations). And technically the M4 is a carbine rather than a traditional assault rifle, which tend to be much longer.

I know that shotguns can be used for breaching doors and that most typical military grunt units have some people carrying them.

I the UK, the cultural differences and history regarding firearms are so diametrically different to the USA, that we simply don't understand this aspect of your nation. It's certainly not resentment about exercising individual sovereignty.

The average Briton has no interest in firearms, has never held a gun, couldn't identify different firearms and certainly wouldn't know where to get one. Outside of Urban London, there is no fear of "home invasion" involving firearms, The majority of the police force don't carry guns etc.....

I'm not outraged or calling for a ban on anything. But try to put yourself in the shoes of a Euro. with almost zero exposure to firearms, surely you can understand why people are shocked and suprised to find out that a middle aged mother in a sleepy town has a cabinet full of firearms...It's so completely to us and that's why I don't comment.

I don't believe in making bold statements about banning things unless you're entrenched in a culture and fully understand the history.

Good post, I absulutly understand!

Just to clarify, I'm not sitting here (in the midwestern United States) scared shitless of a home invasion. My doors aren't locked right now, and I won't lock them till I go to bed.